The Horror of Capitalist Modernity: the Vampire, Zombie, and Cannibal
Session Proposal (MLA 2021 – Toronto)
Tiffany Yun-Chu Tsai
The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina
“Capital,” Marx tells us, “is dead labor, which, vampire-like, lives only by sucking living labor, and lives the more, the more labor it sucks;” for a century, the devouring monsters of vampire, zombie, and cannibal (or other monster, you name it) in literature and popular culture represent deepest fears for consumption in capitalist consumerism. This session intends to demonstrate cultural and sociopolitical history and analyses of vampires, zombies, and cannibals, and how representations of these bloodthirsty creatures embody the anxiety over capitalist modernity that all of us cannot escape from. The session welcomes proposals of paper working on any of the topics in all cultures; all literary genres and time periods will be considered. The session organizer will contribute a presentation on China’s cannibal modernity. Please send Tiffany Yun-Chu Tsai (ytsai@citadel.edu) a 300-word abstract, a CV, and a short bio that demonstrates how your research contributes to this session by March 15, 2020.
